Reflections Interactive's fourth Driver game traded the undercover cop for a getaway driver and split its open city story across two eras.
Reflections Interactive made this fourth entry in the Driver series, released in 2006 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Set in an open New York City across 1978 and 2006, it follows getaway driver TK as he seeks revenge after a betrayal. Critics gave it mixed reviews, praising its story, soundtrack and city atmosphere.
Released in 2006, Driver: Parallel Lines moved the Driver series into a fully open version of New York City. Reflections Interactive built it as a driving-first return to form after Driver 3 underperformed, and players follow a getaway driver across two eras of crime and corruption.
What is Driver: Parallel Lines?
Driver: Parallel Lines is the fourth game in the Driver series, debuted on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006. It places players in a fully open New York City, where they take on story missions, side jobs and police chases. The main character, TK, is a getaway driver who becomes entangled with a criminal gang.
Atari published the first versions, while Ubisoft, which had bought the franchise, handled the later Windows and Wii releases. Compared with earlier entries, which focused on several cities, this game concentrated its whole design on one city and its driving.
A driving-first return to form that put a getaway driver loose in two versions of New York.
Why did the series return to driving?
Driver 3 had an underwhelming performance, and much of the criticism targeted its on-foot sections. Reflections responded by spending more of each mission behind the wheel, returning the series to the formula of its earlier games. Shooting stayed in, but it became a secondary part of the experience.
Industry coverage reported that Reflections had listened to fans. The team also dropped plans for online multiplayer, judging that it could not be done well, and chose to focus on the single-player game. The reveal came in August 2005, with a March 2006 release planned.
How does the New York setting work?
The city is a condensed, stylised version of New York rather than a street-accurate map. It includes every borough except Staten Island, plus Coney Island and stretches of the New Jersey coast. The road network totals 358.1 km (222.5 miles) across the whole game world.
Famous sites such as Central Park, Times Square and the Chrysler Building appear, alongside the Statue of Liberty. The New York Police Department is renamed City Police, and most of the major bridges can be crossed freely from the start. An elevated subway line runs above ground from Manhattan to Coney Island, but players cannot ride the trains.
The world is also more lifelike than in earlier games. Vendors sell donuts on the street, pedestrians talk rather than grunt, and players can also take jobs like cab driving and car towing. The game world is larger than the three cities of Driv3r combined, which were Miami, Nice and Istanbul.
How did the two eras change the game?
The story runs across two eras, 1978 and 2006. The 1978 version has a sepia tone, while the 2006 version has a blue-tinted sky and updated cars, pedestrians and weapons. Players can only switch between eras manually after completing the 32 story missions and unlocking Era Change.
Vehicles stored in a garage in one era can be used in the other, but modifications are more expensive in 2006. The World Trade Center still stands in 1978, while in 2006 its site is cleared and closed off by a blue wall. Times Square's lights and commercial posts also change to suit each period.
The heads-up display changes between eras too, moving from a chrome look to an LED style. The speedometer, nitrous meter and odometer all remain. The game has no weather, though it does keep a day-to-night cycle that changes the mood of the city.
What does the felony system do?
The felony system tracks wanted status separately for crimes committed on foot and for crimes linked to a vehicle the player has used. Losing police attention in a clean car can suspend a wanted level, while holstering a weapon can reduce attention until the player is seen again.
The Wii version swaps this felony bar for a stars system similar to Grand Theft Auto, with stars appearing once police notice the player. Auto-aim is available alongside manual aiming, and visible blood appears when people are shot.
What changed in the controls and camera?
Parallel Lines changed the control layout compared with Driv3r. Swimming and jumping were removed, along with the separate burnout control. On the pressure-sensitive buttons of the PlayStation 2 controller this worked well, but on a PC keyboard most cars would constantly burn out at low speed and lose control.
The only cinematic mode left is the Thrill Camera, a fixed-perspective slow-motion view. The instant replay director mode from earlier games was taken out. The game also added features that were common in Grand Theft Auto:
- Lamp posts can be driven into and hydrants can burst, spraying water
- Auto-aim, with optional manual aim
- Money system and modifiable vehicles
- Visible blood when someone is shot
What cars can players drive?
The game includes more than 80 cars, plus motorcycles, vans and trucks. Their designs are fictional but based on real automobiles used in New York during the two periods.
Ray's Autos garage handles all customisation, from performance and ride height to paintjobs, bodywork, nitrous and bulletproof glass. Modifications cost more in the 2006 era than in 1978.
When was Driver: Parallel Lines released?
The game first arrived in North America on 14 March 2006 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, with Europe next on 17 March and Australia following on 23 March. Windows and Wii versions followed in 2007, and the Japanese PlayStation 2 release came on 12 October 2006.
| Platform | Region | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 2 and Xbox | North America | 14 March 2006 |
| PlayStation 2 and Xbox | Europe | 17 March 2006 |
| PlayStation 2 and Xbox | Australia | 23 March 2006 |
| PlayStation 2 | Japan | 12 October 2006 |
| Windows and Wii | North America | 26 June 2007 |
| Windows and Wii | Australia | 28 June 2007 |
| Windows and Wii | United Kingdom | 29 June 2007 |
A limited edition was sold alongside the regular release at a slightly higher price. It included an extra DVD with production material, in-game videos and character profiles, along with an official soundtrack of twelve tracks, a New York map and a character poster. The PAL version, sold as Collectors Edition, swapped the DVD for a soundtrack CD and a metal case.
What is the story about?
Driver: Parallel Lines follows TK, a getaway driver who is framed for murder and sent to prison for 28 years. When he is released in 2006, he hunts down the people who betrayed him, uncovering a corrupt police chief and a network of criminal businesses.
In 1978 TK returns to Hunts Point, where his friend Ray Davies runs a garage. Ray introduces him to Slink, who owns a local strip club, and Slink in turn brings TK to Bishop and The Mexican. The crew asks TK to help break Candy out of Rikers Island, then to kidnap Colombian drug lord Rafael Martinez for a ransom.
Corrigan, a crooked undercover officer, plans to seize the cocaine trade from the Colombian cartel. After TK recovers the ransom, Corrigan's gang kills Martinez and turns on TK, pinning the murder on him. TK is sent to Sing Sing for 28 years and spends the time planning his revenge.
When TK is released in 2006, he reunites with Ray and learns that Corrigan has become the city's police chief. The others have moved into new lines of work. Slink is in the adult industry and drug manufacturing, Bishop is now a drug kingpin, and Candy runs a prostitution ring and a drug moving service.
TK's revenge begins with The Mexican, whose body he leaves for Corrigan to find. Ray then introduces him to Maria Cortez, an employee of Candy, and TK teams up with her to get near Candy. Along the way he disrupts the businesses of Slink and Bishop before killing both men.
Candy tries to use Maria to bait TK into a trap, but TK survives and saves her before killing Candy. Back at the garage, Corrigan reveals that Ray had been working for him, clearing his debts by setting up the killings. Corrigan then kills Ray and flees when Maria arrives. TK realises that Maria is Martinez's daughter, and she had infiltrated Candy's operation to find the person who really killed her father.
TK and Maria leave the bodies of Candy and Slink where the police will find them, then go after Corrigan as he escapes by helicopter. TK brings the aircraft down and prepares to kill him, but Maria asks him to let her people deal with Corrigan. TK leaves on his own.
Which songs make up the soundtrack?
The soundtrack contains more than 70 songs, played on the in-car radio as the player drives. It mixes 1970s rock and funk with modern alternative and hip-hop, and the tracks sit within the game's two eras, so the 1978 and 2006 sections sound quite different. The full soundtrack was released exclusively on iTunes in March 2006.
The 1978 section leans on Funkadelic, Can, the Stranglers, Blondie, War, Iggy Pop and Parliament, while the 2006 section brings in Public Enemy and the Roots, along with TV on the Radio and LCD Soundsystem. Suffragette City by Bowie opens the CGI intro, and Nimrod Productions handled the music licensing and in-game composition. Some 1978 funk tracks were recorded by session musicians specially for the game.
How did critics react?
Critics gave Driver: Parallel Lines mixed or average reviews on every platform, according to Metacritic. They praised the story, the 1970s soundtrack and the atmosphere of the city, and reviewers also noted the fixes made over Driver 3. Criticism focused on the driving, shooting, graphics and uneven difficulty.
- IGN scored the PlayStation 2 and Xbox editions 7.2 out of 10, welcoming the series' return to its origins
- GameSpot scored those versions 6.5 out of 10, describing a capable imitation of Grand Theft Auto that it could not recommend
- Eurogamer gave the PlayStation 2 version 6 out of 10
- Edge gave the game 7 out of 10 and nicknamed it after the disappointment of its predecessor
Game Informer said the game could not settle on being a Grand Theft Auto style open world or a Midnight Club style racer.
Was the game followed by sequels?
Yes. Driver 76 arrived in 2007 as a prequel with a largely similar design, and Driver: San Francisco followed in 2011. Together they show how the series built on the driving-first approach that Parallel Lines restored after Driver 3 in its later entries.
